鴻池善右衛門家の大名貸 : 掛合控の成立を中心として (近世と商業経営)
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概要
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This article studies fluctuations in loans to the Daimyos, specifically baronial governments, by the Konoike, the greatest money-lending house of the 18th century, and emphasizes the significance of the Kakeai-hikae (transactions diary). We can regard the appearance of the Kakeai-hikae as an epoch-making development, comparable in impact to the appearance of the Sanyo-cho (financial statement). Towards the end of the 17th century, the new merchants-who were unspeculative, but who specialized in a type of commodity or business-rose to prominence in Osaka. The head family of the Konoike House was successfully specializing in lending money to baronial governments. In 1700, its loans to Daimyos already amounted to more than 13,000 kan in silver, or 72.5 percent of its assets. Daimyos, with fiefs located in western Japan-especially Okayama, Hiroshima, Tokushima and Kochi-represented 50 to 80 percent of the total sum of loans to the Daimyos by the Konoike. As the baronial governments had to sell nengu-mai (rice collected as the land tax) mainly in Osaka, and as the nengu-mai eventually covered borrowings from the Osaka money-lenders, the good borrowers for the Konoike House were the baronial governments, such as of Okayama or Hiroshima, who could easily ship to Osaka good quality rice in great quantities. During the Kyoho period (1716-1735), the principal and interest on many loans were unpaid because of the limitation on collectable land tax and the fall in the price of rice in Osaka. In the face of such a crisis, and in order to maintain the money-lending business safely and smoothly, the Konoike House had to select its customers through careful study of their economic strength and to counsel them on their financial policies. On the other hand, the borrowers had to maintain close contact with the Konoike by sending regularly to Osaka a high-class official in charge of finance. In the Horeki period (1751-1763), the Konoike House began to record the negotiations with the baronial governments for the sum, term of payment and rate of interest on each loan, and other information. These records are the original Kakeai-hikae. In this period, the rate of interest on new loans tended to drop. This was a consequence of the decline in financial power in Osaka, resulting from the development of commercial farming and handicrafts outside the Kinai District, with new channels for commodity circulation. After 1761, the Osaka money-lenders were forced by the Shogunate to lend an enormous sum to the public purse and, after that, to particular Daimyos who were related to the Tokugawa family or its immediate vassals. So, the House of Konoike was Compelled to lend money to many baronial governments with which it otherwise would not have done business. In response to these circumstances, the Kakeai-hikae became a regular handbook for the reasonable management of loans to Daimyos by the House of Konoike.
- 1966-03-31